Wow, you are on a roll. Firstly, did you follow the instructions in this thread and the issues thread about loosening the head, tighten the tail nice and tight, then tighten the head. There are a few other things you can check in the guide such as the retaining ring is tight, etc… Here is a link to the guide. See if this fixes your issues.
When there are thousands of satisfied customers and your particular lights act funny, it’s probably not bad design or poor quality control. It’s probably a simple fix, so don’t be too quick to judge.
The nature of this tube in tube design requires quite tight tolerances so the lights can be finicky at first. Once you understand them better they work just fine. There have only been a handful of defective units in the 2000 plus lights sold, so while it’s possible you might have got a bad one, it’s more likely it just needs checking over like any new light.
How long has it been since you contacted Neal? It might take a few days at minimum and maybe a week to get a response. It depends on whether he is focusing on shipping lights or checking emails. I would check the link above before contacting him.